New Mexico Environment Department to hold public meeting about Santa Fe soil contamination

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is hosting a public meeting about a decades-long effort to clean up contamination in Santa Fe. According to officials, the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) operated a power plant between the New Mexico School for the Deaf and the Santa Fe Indian School from the 1950s through the 1980s.

In 1952, approximately 84,000 gallons of fuel from a storage tank on site leaked into the soil. Then, in 1988, two other chemical contaminants were detected in the Santa Fe public well, causing its shutdown.

The NMED says investigations and cleanup efforts have been ongoing since 1989. Now, the department is working to install groundwater wells to determine the extent of contamination remaining.

On Monday, September 30, officials are hosting a public meeting from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Harold Runnels Building in Santa Fe. To find out more, click here .

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